One of my favorite musicals is Godspell. I know it’s a little corny (especially if you’ve seen the 70’s film), but still…I love it.
The opening number of the show is quite simple, consisting of the ensemble repeatedly singing, “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord!”
Beyond being just a killer show tune, it seems to me that this is the very heartbeat of the Church, especially as we anticipate the coming of the King on Christmas. We, likewise, must prepare the way of the Lord, so that we can welcome Him fully into the world.
Preparing Our Hearts
The Nativity of Christ is the fulfillment of a promise that God made in the very beginning, a promise that He would deliver His people from the jaws of the serpent, from the pits of death and decay. Generations of God’s people lived in anticipation of the One who would arrive to save them, to drive out their oppressors and restore the royal line of David forever.
Alongside hanging lights and wrapping presents, our own preparation for Christ’s coming, while not lasting generations, is marked by 40 days of fasting. We do this in an attempt to clear some room within our own hearts, to ensure that when Christ comes, He finds the cave of our souls to be a welcoming home for Him, just as He did so many years ago.
As we sing in the Kontakion for the feast, “Today the Virgin comes to the cave to give birth to the Unapproachable One.”
Today.
I’ve always loved how the Orthodox Church commemorates these feasts, doing so not as ancient memorials, but as ongoing, present realities. The Virgin comes to give birth today - not yesterday, not 2000 years ago. The Church wants us to remember that we aren’t simply celebrating the anniversary of a past event. We are participating in a cosmic event.
Today.
Of course, the Incarnation of Christ is a historical event. Away in a manger, Christ is born 2024(±) years ago in a unique way that can never be repeated. There’s no denying this.
However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t recognize that this is not the only time that Christ has become incarnate. In fact, we’d miss the central point the Church is trying to emphasize here.
Christ is born. Today. In us.
The Incarnation is both a uniquely unrepeatable historical event and also an ongoing spiritual reality that we participate in today as Christ is born in us.
Saintly Preparations
As we look at the lives of the Saints, this is what we proclaim and confess, that this person is indeed yet another incarnation of the one Christ: a Christ-ian. That Christ is indeed made flesh through these holy people.
We venerate and adore the Saints precisely because they reveal Christ through their lives, actions, and love. They have prepared the way of the Lord, making room for Him in the cave of their souls, giving birth to Him in the quiet of their hearts and incarnating Him in their very lives.
I recently had the pleasure of reading Rheta Thola’s excellent new book, Stubborn Love: A Story of Saint Maria of Paris. Her story is a perfect example of what we’re exploring here.
Saint Maria incarnated the love of Jesus through everything she did, refusing to do anything other than honor and venerate the image of God in every person she met, regardless of the political powers around her.
She sacrificed her time, her energy, and even what others considered “piety” for the sake of the world around her. She beautifully exemplifies for us what it is to allow Christ to be born within our hearts within our context.
She understood that the birth of Christ, that His life and love, is not merely an event that happened a couple millennia ago.
It is something that continues to happen in us.
Today.
To Be Born Again
Each of us is likewise invited to the same reality. Each of us is invited not merely to be co-celebrants of a historical memorial, but rather to be a participant in the incarnation of Christ as He is born in our hearts today.
Each of us was created to be an incarnation of Christ, to be an embodiment of His Love here and now. The Holy Trinity has invited each of us into the eternal communion of love through grace, so that we might be loved into loving others, so that we might bring the love of God to the world.
And we don’t have to go far to do this, either. We’re all placed in the very context that God has planned for us. Everywhere we go is a place to allow Christ to be born in the cave of our hearts.
We all were born for a time such as this.
A time in which Christ might become incarnate in us.
Today.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Take some time today and ask the Lord what is crowding the cave of your heart. Are you consumed with worries about finances? Worries about the past? Concerns about the future? What is keeping the cave of your heart from being a hospitable home for the King?
Pay attention today. Who are you encountering in the world? How are you seeing others? Are you looking at them with judgment or fear?
Ask the Lord to show you someone who needs your love today. Be open to whomever He brings into your path.
When interacting with someone, ask the Lord to help you see this person the way that He sees them. Allow your heart and mind to open to them as an image of the living God. Today.
This Nativity season, please donate to OYM to help us bring young people closer to Christ and to their communities.